Our bags are packed….

With our first production of a Gilbert & Sullivan musical only weeks away, director Leo Capernaros gives us a progress report on The Mikado…

“This is the first musical I have directed, and frankly I’m right out of my comfort zone. Give me some good old-fashioned dialogue and I find my natural place in the rehearsal room, however as soon as the keyboard kicks in for yet another ‘big number’ my head starts to spin. It’s technical, time consuming and there has to be dancing…HELP!

Thankfully I do have plenty of help in the form of a wonderful Musical Director (Susie Dickson), a creative Choreographer (Harri Bailey) and a G&S obsessed Assistant Director (Ian Bowen, also playing Pooh-Bah!). Between us and the hard-working (and talented) cast – we are putting all the pieces together, bit by bit. We often have differing ideas in our minds, but happily the whole group seems to have the same overriding objective, to tell the story. We want our audience to enjoy what they see and hear, but also understand the story being told, and the story of The Mikado is no simple tale, it twists and turns, it’s wacky and at times flat-out absurd. For this reason we know telling the story will be a challenge, but one we are enjoying.

I have never worked with a G&S script before, and being honest I never thought I would, but like much of the cast I have been surprised at how inventive and wonderfully funny it is – it’s going to be great fun. We have a huge few weeks left that will require hard-work and focus – thankfully we have a production team and cast that are up for the challenge.

We are also knee-deep in suitcases – come along to find out why.”

Tickets available from The Home and Colour Centre on Stone High St, Tel 01785 817307.